[Album] World Heroes 2 Image Album (PCCB-00137)

World Heroes 2 Image Album is one of those albums that is just brilliant in its simplicity. At the heart of the album, you have the underrated but catchy melodies from the classic World Heroes 2 fighting game from SNK. The arrangers have opted to remain extremely faithful to these, while injecting loads of personality in the form of guitars, voice samples, high-quality synths and plenty of smooth transitions to make one of the best overall listening experiences I can recommend.

The general style can be described as old-school synth-rock with elements of world music and dance music. It's not a listening experience that's going to knock you out of your seat with raw power like, say, Guilty Gear. Rather, while there are some more intense tracks on here, the whole experience is actually quite relaxing and focused. It's perfect for doing homework - motivational, but not intrusive on the listener's thoughts. It seems like each track has managed to include at least one major hook to bring the listener back, once it's played through to the end. Even with the CD clocking in at around 70 minutes, it feels much longer because I generally repeat a lot of tracks when I listen and I rarely skip anything.

I guess I should begin by mentioning one of the big selling points of this album: Ryo Yonemitsu is one of the arrangers on here! The wizard who did most of the arranging on the Ys Perfect Collections has his hand in three of the seventeen arrangements, and he's brought his full arsenal of synthesizers and guitars. Even better news? He's the guy who got to arrange the excellent final boss theme "Murder-D"! This is the good stuff - epic guitar perfection for the first 2/3 of the piece, before it gradually winds down at the end. It takes a few listens to really let this gem sink in because there's so much going on, but it's easily on par with his Ys IV battle theme arrangements. "I Am First in Line" does things the opposite way, starting with a Japanese-style flute, the main melody, over a wicked techno beat. About halfway through, Yonemitsu mixes in a series of guitar riffs, which were used in Ys IV's "Ancient City Fujou," and then he completely replaces the flute with the guitar. The voice samples in this piece are really what make it so great. His third piece "Mighty Stroke" isn't quite as awesome as the other two pieces he arranged, but it's still good. This time, he uses a fast-paced Chinese melody and slows it down during the second half.

Surprisingly enough, though, I found some of the other arrangements even more to my liking that the ones Yonemitsu arranged, although this has more to do with my liking of the original pieces than the actual arrangements. The theme "Black-Out #1" is one of those themes that gets into your head and stays there. The piece features a smooth, synthy saxophone and a voice sample that talks about cleaning up the streets of New York. The vocal at the end is this theme as well, which was a nice surprise. My favorite original track from the World Heroes 2 OST was "Johnny Let's Dance" and the way it gradually changes rhythm throughout the piece. The arrangement keeps this rather unique trait intact and builds around it with some great synth-action and voice samples. The only way I can describe "Russian Speculator" would be a Russian-sounding version of the opening to the anime "Love Hina" - if you've heard that opening song and this arrangement, you'll see why I'm making this strange comparison. "German Armored Division Dirge #9" sounds like a clan of metallic soldiers marching into battle, with sort of a techno-marching sound to it; it reminds me a lot of the Mako reactor theme from Final Fantasy VII. "The Swordswoman Who Holds a Grudge" sounds like a toned-down version of Millia Rage's famous "Writhe in Pain" theme from Guilty Gear - imagine it with more emphasis on drums and the piano and you've got the gist of it. The last piece I'll mention is "Mongolian Hurricane," one of the few non-Yonemitsu songs to really cut it loose. A synth guitar spends most of the piece playing a killer series of notes as the piece moves through the arrangement. It's repetitive, but it's one of those pieces you just don't want to end.

I think I can stop there and just let you see for yourself that the rest of these songs have something they can boast to draw in your attention. The only piece I consider to be disappointing is "Nice Guy of the Seven Seas," an otherwise entertaining dance tune. The reason I'm not so big on this version is because it pales in comparison to the version on World Heroes 2 Jet Image album, which blasts the speakers from beginning to end with live guitars on the main melody. This version does the original piece justice, but I highly recommend listening to the other version if you have the chance ... although I will say I think this is the better of the two World Heroes arranged albums overall by a wide margin.

Other than that, there's really nothing bad about this CD. 17 professionally arranged tracks from an already respectable score, clocking in at around 70 minutes and about 4 minutes per track is certainly more than most arranged albums offer. It's not flashy and it's not going to blow you away, but it will earn your respect. The only people I would not recommend this to are those who insist that synth-rock isn't worth listening to, no matter how good the arrangements or compositions are. Definitely hunt this one down if you get the chance.

5/5

Jam it back in, in the dark.